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The eyes of the wolves were continuously fixed in my direction, this could not be my imagination.

But then I think, we are lost.

The wind wolves were quick on their feet. They could quickly create wind, they could leap up high to where swords couldn’t reach. They could attack us from any angle.

And yet, we could not move because I and the carriage needed to be protected…?

Did we need to avoid having so many openings?

 

I stood up. My legs were not shaking. I could feel the strength in them.

And as Clara looked at me, startled as she was getting up, I tied the hem of my dress so it would not spread out and would become shorter–then I began to run.

 

“Kiara!?”

“Hey!”

Clara called my name in a voice that was closer to a scream. Alan had just turned around to look at us, his eyes widened in surprise.

 

But I couldn’t be worried about that.

I quickly ran to the back of the carriage. Once I had confirmed from the corner of my eye that a wind wolf had jumped over the head of one soldier to chase after me, I turned around and ran passed Alan and headed for the trees.

 

“Sir Wentworth, move forward a little! Lyle and Alan, stay there for a pincer attack!”

Run me, run!
I ran like mad, zigzagging to avoid the trees.

 

As I had expected, the three wolves that were chasing me were running in single file in order to avoid the trees.

It was difficult for them to use the wind to jump while in such a dense forest. And so they had no choice but to run.

But I still knew that they would quickly catch up with me. I quickly burst out of the forest and dashed towards Sir Wentworth.

I passed through Alan and Lyle once again as I ran to the back of where Sir Wentworth was standing. The wind wolves would be right in front of him soon.

 

“I see.”

Sir Wentworth whispered as if realizing something. His sword cut cleanly into the first wind wolf.

The other two paused at the corpse in front of them. And Alan and Lyle quickly cut them down from the side.

 

I saw this from the corner of my eye as I began to run again.

Two more wolves had come from a different direction.

I was now so out of breath that I nearly stopped. But I could not make a mistake and fall here.

 

“Hey, please!”

As if sliding, I broke into a spot where three soldiers stood together as if frozen.

They had been surprised by the sudden change of direction of the wolves they had been facing and how they now chased me. But they quickly turned to the oncoming wolves and slashed with their swords.

Then the fallen wolves were quickly killed by Alan and Lyle.

 

–If I was the target, then the wolves would move towards whatever direction I was running in. They chased me almost blindly, and so I had guessed that they would likely follow me even if I was moving through trees.

I wanted to bring the full attention of the wolves towards me and guide them so they could not jump.

With the skills Alan and the others had, killing the distracted wolves would not be difficult. And as I had predicted, they had been able to do just that while the wolves were chasing after me.

 

I sat down on the ground.

Finally, they were all dead. But I was so out of breath that I could not even feel happy about it.

I did what I could to return my dress to normal and confirmed that all the wolves were dead. The reality that I did not have to run away anymore slowly dawned on me as I caught my breath.

 

“You, idiot!”

Alan’s shoulders were shaking as he ran towards me, his sword still in hand.

The volume of his voice was intimidating and I felt myself shrink back. You’re scary, Alan.

But Alan would not hold back just because I was scared.

 

“Why would you do such a thing, when you are so weak. You could have died! What were you going to do if you got hurt!”

“But, if things remained like that.”

Everyone had been wounded. And if you considered that Madame Beatrice could no longer fight, a most fearful outcome was the most probably waiting for us.

 

With that wound, it would take at least a month before she would heal enough to be able to run again. But Madame Beatrice had not appeared on the battlefield even after the attack on Everal castle. If so, there was a possibility that the wound was even deeper than it looked.

What if I had stayed in the carriage? The wind wolves would have destroyed it, putting Madame Beatrice in a situation where she would be forced to fight even as she was wounded.

I didn’t want her to have to suffer any more than she already had.

 

And in that situation, the other knights and soldiers might have been hurt even more badly.

And yet, they would have to face the coming war as part of the Margrave’s army.

 

But now, I had an even more frightening theory.

If indeed, Madame Beatrice had not joined the war effort for the reasons I suspected.

If things moved along as they did in the game, Ruain would invade during a time when Madame Beatrice was too hurt to fight.

That meant that they might not wait a full year… They could attack during the autumn.

 

If the situation changed in such an unexpected direction, then I would not be able to predict the outcome at all.

At the moment, there has not been any movement in Salehard. There was no reason that I could think of for Reggie to visit the Margrave. It made me scared. That was why it made me paranoid to see Alan and the others get hurt even a little.

And I was still unable to use magic. We could not afford to lose any of the fighting force now…

 

But there was still so much unexplained.

I carried these uncertainties as I stared at the ground, but then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up.

 

“Are you okay, Kiara?”

It was Sir Wentworth. He had his usual, calm look. I nodded at him. And then he admonished Alan for me.

 

“There is no point in blaming her for what has passed, Lord Alan.”

“But…”

“It is also true that we are all safe because of her. We should prioritize leaving this place. It will be trouble if any other beasts are drawn here by the smell of blood. And Madame Beatrice has been hurt.”

Alan looked startled for a moment, but he nodded acceptingly.

 

“You are right… I said too much, Kiara. But, I must hear an explanation later. Do you understand?”

I nodded and stood up. Clara looked at me with worry as she offered her hand and pulled me into the carriage.

 

“Kiara, are you alright?”

I smiled at Madame Beatrice, who had been worrying about me.

 

“I am fine. The wolves are all dead now. Let us return with haste, Madame.”

And as I began to help Maia treat Madame Beatrice’s wounds, I had to wonder. How was I supposed to give an explanation of this sense of danger I have.